NantKwest to Present Updated Preclinical Data at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology

Culver City, December 3, 2018- NantKwest Inc. (Nasdaq:NK), a pioneering, next generation, clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on harnessing the unique power of our immune system using natural killer (NK) cells to treat cancer, infectious diseases and inflammatory diseases, today announced an abstract/poster presentations will be given at the upcoming 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in San Diego, CA, which runs from December 1-4, 2018.

The company’s haNK® cells, currently in multiple human clinical trials, have been engineered to carry a high-affinity version of the CD16/FcγRIII receptor that binds to the Fc portion of a monoclonal antibody to enhance the cancer cell killing effect when used in combination with haNK cell therapy.

As part of our next-generation NK cell therapy program, we further enhanced the potential targeting and homing efficiency of haNK cell therapy by incorporating both a CD19-targeting CAR, together with the chemokine-homing receptor, C-C Chemokine Receptor Type 7 (CCR7), which targets both Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand CCL19 (CCL19) and Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 21 (CCL21), key signaling molecules expressed in lymph nodes to guide homing to these tissues. This tri-targeting NK cell therapy is designed to maximize NK cell activity by increasing NK cell migration to tumor sites and enhance cancer cell killing activity through both CD19-targeted, CAR-mediated killing, together with antibody mediated killing when combined with monoclonal clonal antibodies such as Rituximab.

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, Chairman and CEO of NantKwest commented, “We look forward to reporting preclinical data on this novel tri-specific, off-the-shelf, homing CD19.t-haNK cell therapy. By engineering a novel chemokine-based CAR, into our off-the-shelf NK cell platform, we show that we can increase NK cell migration to target cancer cells and this enhanced homing can potentially maximize NK cell-driven immunogenic cell death. Representing what we believe will be an attractive treatment option, we are now focused on transitioning this next-generation NK cell therapy program to human clinical trials as rapidly as possible.”

About NantKwest Inc.

NantKwest is an innovative clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on harnessing the power of the innate immune system by using the natural killer cell to treat cancer, infectious diseases and inflammatory diseases.

NantKwest is uniquely positioned to implement precision cancer medicine, with the potential to change the current paradigm of cancer care. Natural Killer cells are ancient cells in the human body designed to recognize and detect cells under stress or infected. The NantKwest “off-the-shelf” activated Natural Killer (NK) platform has the capacity to destroy cancer and virally infected cells from the body. The safety of our NK cells as well as their activity against a broad range of cancers have been tested in multiple phase 1 clinical trials in the United States, Canada and Europe. In addition to our NK cells capability to be administered in the outpatient setting as an “off-the-shelf” living drug, serves as a universal cell-based therapy without need for individualized patient matching. Moreover, our NK cell based platform has been bioengineered to incorporate chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) and antibody receptors to further optimize targeting and potency in the therapeutic disease.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning or implying the Company will be successful in improving the treatment of cancer. Risks and uncertainties related to this endeavor include, but are not limited to, obtaining FDA approval of our NK cells as well as other therapeutics as part of the NANT Cancer Vaccine platform as a cancer treatment.

Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, these forward-looking statements do not constitute guarantees of future performance, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

These and other risks regarding our business are described in detail in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2018. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and we disclaim any obligation to update these statements except as may be required by law.